Chinese immigrant parents' narratives about their children's education.

摘要

There is limited literature available on the wave of immigrants into the United States from the 1980s, especially on immigrants from China. This qualitative study examines narratives from a set of low-income Chinese immigrant parents in New York City regarding their immigrant experiences, their children's school experiences, and their beliefs and practices surrounding their children's education.;The primary data collection was carried out with one-on-one semi-structured interviews to illicit life history narratives from the participants. In total, fifteen low-income Chinese immigrant parents were interviewed for this research. Following an examination of common themes in the interviews, three portfolios of stories were selected for in-depth analysis utilizing a narrative analysis model in the socio-linguistic tradition. The narrative analysis model is adapted from Polanyi's structural and cultural analytic model.;There are three major findings from the study. First, the parents described their lack of English language skills as the major hindrance to their own success as immigrants and make special efforts to ensure that their children acquire an adequate command of English. Secondly, the parents expressed their belief that the eventual integration to American society would start with their children, but not with themselves. Thirdly, the parental engagement activities for these parents were reported to be overwhelmingly taking place outside of their children's school context. In summary, this set of parents, in addition to experiencing financial hardships, struggle in various ways in their efforts to spearhead their children's school success while juggling the daily demands of work and family.;The findings of the study suggest that the school system can do much more in terms of informing and involving low-income Chinese American immigrant parents, especially in giving voice to those parents who are often overlooked because of their limited in-school engagement activities. In addition, more research is needed for better understanding the adaptation processes of the immigrant families.